Dig bearsand concerned about the comedy world’s inevitable and imminent loss of The Golden Girls legacy and vibe?
Fear not! Where The Bears Are is a lol-capable web comedy series penned by a former Girls scribe and chock-a-block with bulky bears and well-lit carpets of chest
Throw in a little Murder, She Wrote for the story arc connecting each four-minute gem “and that’s the soup!” says writer-producer Rick Kopp.
The Silverlake neighborhood of Los Angeles serves as the series’ hyper-sexed locale populated by a pneumatic supporting cast of muscle-daddy bears who make it their religion to get shirtless (at least).
The “humor between friends” aspect is primarily left to leads Kopp, Ben Zook and Joe Dietl, who play the Blanche, Dorothy and Rose functions, respectively.
That results in plenty of jokes (not meant for the workplace) as well as topical side-splitters such as when Dietl’s character admonishes Zook for overindulging in sweets: “One more Snickers bar and he’s going to be popping Januvias with Paula Deen.” (That reference to prescription medication for diabetics and the stick-of-butter-per-dish cooking queen was prompted by Kopp’s advice to “stick to chasers looking for sugar daddies!”)
The Bears story begins with Zook and the adorable Ian Parks, as the always-too-busy-to-talk-to-the-police Eagle bartender Hot Toddy, engaging in some playful “morning after” smooch and grope.
After Toddy takes leave of the apartmentâ┚¬â€Âscene of a crazy, hazy party the night beforeâ┚¬â€ÂZook’s roommates arrive to deliver an “as-only-friends-can” machine-gun barrage of comic variations on the inherent comedy in the smoking hot bear/average bear pairing phenomenon.
But soon after, a dead partygoerâ┚¬â€Âanother naked bear no lessâ┚¬â€Âis discovered in the bathtub.
Luckily for the “Girls,” er, guys, more hirsute, Colt-ready actors weave their way into the plot, leaving plenty of golden opportunities for the guys to drool and do the gay O-face.
View Episode 1:
Despite the dominance of more mature bear culture alongside some blazing ripostes about gay life, don’t expect much twink-bashing in Where The Bears Are.
“The one thing I hate to do is segregate the gay community,” said Kopp. “I love West Hollywood and I love when we mingle together.”
But just what is a bear anyway?
“It’s very tricky. I think there’s something to do with size and body hair, physical attributes,” said Kopp. “The movement grew out of portrayals in movies of gay men that were a very specific type. Bears are guys who didn’t fit into that pattern so much.”
Now the bear community is a part of mainstream gay culture, he says, and a part of Silverlake’s creative and alternative scene serving as a visual and conceptual counterpoint to LA’s more usual moves like the Walk of Fame or Rodeo Drive.
Still, despite clearly appealing to the bear world, the Bear webisodes aren’t just a non-stop bulk parade and festival of sausages. Where would a gay comedy series be without a couple of great hags?
In Bears, a sexually aggressive female coroner working on the murder caseâ┚¬â€Âplayed by Loretta Foxâ┚¬â€Âproves to be an early highlight in a scene when she fellates gay bear Dietl, who at first balks at her advances. Only the forced striptease of her uber-hot muscle-bear assistant gets him to relent and climax.
It’s somewhat unsettling and largely hilarious.
Later on in the series, comedian and drag performer Jackie Beat will adds her comedic talents to this bear soup.
New webisodes are posted online twice a week. And with the series now at episode ten, Bears seems to be drawing attention from all corners of the gay world as well as outlets like The Huffington Post.
“And we’re getting some nice numbers for our hits,” Kopp said, who’s the member of the Bears creative team with the Golden Girls pedigree.
One of the things that struck Kopp while working on that classic show was the chemistry between the leads.
You can also find it in Where the Bears Are with his real-life friends Zook and Dietl, who’ve been in a relationship for 17 years.
“We’ve been dumbfounded by the response,” he said.
Episode 2:
Episode 3:
